The making of an extra special lamp

And so it begins

The pattern is drawn up, two copies made and laminated, glass chosen. With lightbox, glass cutter, groziers, and a good supply of bandaids on hand the process begins

Cutting

Each piece of glass is carefully cut and placed on a second copy of the pattern

Grinding

Each of the 280 pieces of glass has its edges ground to ensure a good fit with the pattern, remove sharp edges, and also give them a good texture to help the copperfoil to adhere. The pieces are then washed to remove cutting oil and grinding residue

Foiling

Clean and dry the pieces are all wrapped in copperfoil which is then rubbed to a smooth finish. The smaller pieces are pinned onto polystyrene boards

Building the lamp

The polystyrene mould is covered with a paper. The top layer of the lamp is taped together before being placed on the mould

Piece by piece, each of the glass pieces are tacked into place with solder to build the form of the lamp

Shredded newspaper holds the lamp in place while all of the joins are soldered – inside and out

Finishing

Black patina is applied to the solder which causes a chemical reaction to colour the solder black

Polish is applied to the lamp and left to dry then rubbed off with a soft cloth. Approximately 60 hours from beginning the design process the lamp is now ready to go onto a base